Readers' letters: Devolution has failed, whatever Henry McLeish thinks

Mr McLeish makes some good points: “the Scottish Parliament must be freed from the stifling control of the Scottish Government” and, particularly, “Campaigning and governing are different mindsets”. That is the nub of the current problem: the SNP is not a governing party – it is a campaigning party, nothing more.

After rehearsing the shortcomings of political development in Scotland this century, Mr McLeish arrives at a non-sequitur of a conclusion: “Devolution has been an undoubted success.” And he didn’t even mention the baby box.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Federal solution

In his recent article, Henry McLeish points to many ways in which Scotland’s devolved parliament might be improved. ln particular his plea for a greater measure of cooperation among all the parties to get done things that will benefit Scotland as a whole will I’m sure be applauded by many.

One way to encourage this attitude, I suggest, would be to ditch the Westminster concept of there being a government drawn exclusively from the members of the party which has won most seats in the Parliament and from which members of all other parties are rigidly excluded. After all, every MP or MSP has been chosen by a number of citizens to represent them.

Ultimately,of course,as Mr McLeish hints, we need a new constitution which recognises that we now have a United Kingdom of four nations in a federation.

S Beck, Edinburgh

Get off the fence

Perhaps Henry McLeish needs to read up on his Scottish history – the people of Scotland have been divided since 1707 when “a parcel of rogues” sold out the people of Scotland to the British Establishment.

The SNP did not create that “division” and it is not the SNP that has worked since to thwart the ambitions of the Scottish nation through indoctrination evidenced in slanted school history books and in the repeating of UK Government propaganda, along with partially framed stories in the media.

Henry comments on the current limitations of devolution and on the desirability of change, while suggesting alternatives to independence such as a federation, or confederation, or “something different”.

The stumbling block here though is not the SNP, but the political parties representing the British Establishment, as, in spite of Gordon Brown’s enthusiastic words, there is little effort to bring about any serious discussion of some form of constitutional change.

Devolution came about following the Scottish Constitutional Convention led by Canon Kenyon Wright.

Will Henry now get off the fence and lead, or at least support calls for a Citizen’s Convention which could finally end “division” by establishing a broadly-agreed path to genuine democratic representation that will faithfully serve the aspirations of the people of Scotland?

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

School discipline

Campaigners have called for a ban on smacking children in England, bringing it into line with a ban introduced in Scotland in 2020. Perhaps John Swinney could take the lead again by introducing a ban on school pupils attacking teaching staff, punishable by large fines, to be paid by the parents. Such a measure might go some way to reducing the rising number of classroom assaults revealed recently.

Bruce Proctor, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

999 scripts

Martin Logan said that on his recent 999 call it felt as if the call handler was “just reading off a menu” (Scotsman, 20 August). He’s spot on – that’s exactly what they were doing.

The call handler works from automated prompts which are well-intentioned but low-quality. They include a number of stock phrases which come up time and again: “Turn the patient on to their back”; “Don’t worry about mouth-to-mouth”; “Don’t splint any fractures”; and “I’ll tell you exactly what to do”. Those phrases are junk to those of us who do know what we’re doing.

An inexperienced call handler will insist on going through every dot and comma of the script. A more experienced person will realise when the caller knows what to do and will skip the trivia.

It’s not the fault of the staff. They do a great job in very trying circumstances. The problem is an organisational dependence on automated systems which are poorly designed.

It’s now more than years since I complained about an ambulance refusal for someone who had dislocated her knee and gave a pain score of 9.5. That’s bad enough in any circumstances, but at 1am it was totally unacceptable.

The response from the service was simply that the staff did what the system told them. All it takes is one missing question in the prepared script and it completely changes the outlook for the patient.

Automated systems do have their place, but it would help a lot if they were properly sanity-checked in the real world before going live.

Alex MacDonald, Burntisland, Fife

Friday feeling

Friday is always regarded as a great day of the week, heralding the start of the weekend. So imagine my joy yesterday when I read the article “SNP deficit hits £500k as members fall”. Members falling by the wayside like wasps in the first frost of late autumn, the highly likely non-payment of the balance owed to Peter Murrell of £60,000 and the unbelievable depreciation of the “battle bus” motorhome from £100,790 to £41,284.

And there are those out there that would give this bunch the keys to Scotland’s future should independence be gained.

Perhaps when they finally allow primary school children to vote – they better hurry up, May 2026 is approaching – they will finally increase the membership numbers – though the amount of “free” sweeties and juice and crisps might be a financial leap too far. A term I have, until now, never used is the best way to describe this shambles – a busted flush.

David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders

Clear evidence

There is a crystal clear truth the SNP would like to spin out of existence: if the SNP cannot manage its own party’s finances then how on Earth can it manage those of the entire country?

Of course many of us know the SNP is incapable, the evidence is widespread on a daily basis, but if this message is now permeating even to its core supporters then spin won’t cut it. It is generally reported that the SNP retains its basic popularity in Scotland and will maintain its position as the largest party, even if its number of MSPs is reduced, but is this really true? Turkeys do not vote for Christmas and former SNP supporters seem to be taking the same line. The Holyrood 2026 election is far more open than many pundits think.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Research required

Noting with interest the concerns expressed by the signatories from the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (Letters, 21 August) about the “lack of resourcing to support an escalating number of pupils with additional support needs” leads me to ask what research has been or is being done into the reasons for this escalation.

The statistics seem to me to be most alarming: the letter states that “the number of those with various ASN needs now amounts to two out of five pupils, a more than doubling in numbers over the past decade”. It also states that “the Scottish Government is spending around £1 billion on those with ASN”. It seems that despite this incredible sum there has actually been a spending cut of £1,708 per pupil. These figures are astonishing.

I do hope that some of this £1bn is being devoted to establishing exactly why there has been such a frightening increase in young people with additional support needs. And that every effort is made to eradicate or at least reduce any future escalation in numbers affected.

David M Steel, South Queensferry, Edinburgh

Selective beliefs

Ian Petrie (Letters, 19 August) claimed that someone “famously” once said that “if you believe in nothing then you will believe in anything”. The context was religious faith.

Perhaps he was thinking of GK Chesterton, who wrote that “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything”.

Chesterton was mistaken: religious belief is merely a superstition, a belief in the supernatural. Rejecting it does not imply belief in anything; it implies belief only in those thing for which there is evidence.

Since “nothing” cannot exist, it seems impossible to believe in it. As an atheist, I do not “believe in anything”; I am selective in what I believe, preferring evidence for the foundation (“rock”) for my beliefs.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

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